Teaching Our Grandchildren to Respect Animals

1.     I asked my daughter if I could take my granddaughter to the circus for Christmas. I could immediately see the reluctance in her eyes. “Well, if you want to…” It opened the door to a conversation about not wanting Tally to go to places where animals were forced to perform for our amusement. It had never occurred to me that places like zoos and circuses might send a message to my grandchild that animals were here for our amusement. So, out went zoos, circuses, and Sea World. But in were other places I could take her that would help her see the animal world the way nature intended.

I wasn’t quite sure where that might be, but suddenly I began to see all sorts of opportunities. A friend I work with began to post pictures of her trips to watch the seals off the coast of Long Island. I also saw that the local preserve was doing a few programs for toddlers on nature, including one on how the birds survive in the winter. More to come on this since Tally and I are signed up to do this on Wednesday (1/14/2015).

Tally’s other grandma is a vegan, a rather militant one! She is against anything that exploits animals, so for her not only are circuses and zoos out, but also eating any animal or its by-product.  Now, I, myself, am not a vegan; I am a carnivore. My feeling is that if God didn’t want me to eat animals, he wouldn't have made many of them so delicious. But, through, Tally’s other grandma (Grandma Lucky) I see that the way these animals are raised and slaughtered isn't the most humane. So, one of the other ways to be a great grandma is to open the child’s eyes to other ways of thinking and to show that she is here to not exploit animals, but care for them and make their lives easier not better. For the animals, the worst thing that has ever happened to them is us.

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In an article on PETA’s website, “Teaching Kids Compassion towards Animals,” they recommend that we look into how we treat animals in front of children. Never hit them or demean them. Explain the behavior of animals to the child so he or she has a healthy respect for them.  Even the way you handle a bug that has found its way into your home shows the child that even if you don’t want the bug in your home (who does!) that is not a good reason to kill it. Children will learn from us, so be careful what message you send. I had a neighbor once who was so afraid of spiders that she called me into her home once to get rid of one. The frightened spider had found its way into one of the children’s backpack. I went in to see what I could do, and once we found it, the children all screamed, “Kill it.” My feeling was, “Why?” I lifted the spider out of the backpack and held it in my hand. I told the girls that he was actually just lost. I encouraged them to touch him, and the three of us then went outside and released him into the wilds of suburbia.  Do I think those girls never stepped on another spider…I wouldn't be that naive, but I hope they thought twice.

We can also encourage our grandchildren to be compassionate for pets who have no home, perhaps by volunteering at a local shelter. Many have need of people to socialize the stray animals that are in the shelter and make them ready to be adopted. My daughter and husband recently adopted two kittens to help my granddaughter learn how to care for an animal. One of the kittens was found at a local landfill and now has a loving home with them.  

Also consider watching films such as Bambi, Lady and the Tramp, Shiloh, Free Willy, Babe, My Dog Skip, and Finding Nemo. These films can encourage conversations about the challenges that animals face and how we can help them. Many of these films show the struggles of animals in the wild, and these can help us frame conversations with the child. Many, though, show these animals in captivity. Using Free Willy as an example, younger children can be shown the film and discuss the captivity of the whale and understand it, but for older children it might lead to a showing of the Cowperthwaite film Blackfish. This film focuses on Tilikum, an orca whale that was responsible for three deaths while in captivity.

           
As you can see, we, as grandparents, have the opportunity to help encourage our grandchildren to view issues and think for themselves. The purpose in this is not to tell them what to think, but to give them the tools to think for themselves.

Please feel free to comment on this subject and add what you do with your grandchild that encourages a love of nature and animals.